famous people you have shaken hands with or spoken to

[hatredisnotavalue]

Stephen King, Elizabeth Edwards, Troy Donahue, William Shatner,
you go....

[Bennyboy]

1. Jerry Garcia

Timothy Leary, Wavy Gravy. Bob Weir, Ken Kesey, Bill Graham, Ray Davies

[liberaldemocrat7]

54. I spoke to Jesse Jackson, Gary Hart and Richard Trumke on CSPAN

and I spoke to Mike Gravel on the telephone.

I spoke to the great Yankees announcer Mel Allen on the phone twice in the early 1990's sometime before 1994 and enjoyed talking to him about the Yankees and his broadcast career.


Over 30 years ago I spoke to Pepi Marchello a lead singer of a little known group called the Good Rats, at a place called My Father's Place on Long Island.

[huskerlaw]

2. John Edwards

Bradley Whitford, Allison Janney, Janel Maloney, Jane Kaczmarek, Deidre Hall...I've had actual conversations with these celebs...there are MANY more that I've casually met.

[EstimatedProphet]

3. Bob Weir, Vince Welnick, Victor Wooten, Amy Goodman

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. Jerry Brown.....he put his arm around me!

[hatredisnotavalue]

8. Many years ago

I saw Brown with Linda Ronstadt at a beach in the Caribbean.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

11. How cool!

I always thought they would marry...

:hi:

[hatredisnotavalue]

12. Me too!

I have always loved Jerry. I wish he would have gone farther in his career. I loved his flat tax proposal.

[GenDem]

20. I love Jerry Brown

He was my very first favorite politician.

[tigereye]

87. I campaigned for him prior to Clinton's nomination...

he'st still cute even with no hair!

:hi:

[rug]

5. Alexander Kerensky

AC Bhaktivedenta Swami Prabhupada, W H Auden, Allen Ginsberg, Don McLean, George McGovern, John Lennon, Buddy Hackett

[Fire Walk With Me]

48. You met Ginsburg? His book of interviews is one of my favorite things.

Meeting the Swami is very impressive as well. Cheers.

[rug]

89. He used to make frequent appearances on Channel 5 WNEW (now a Fox station) in NYC in the late 60s.

I grew up down the block on 67th Street. On one of those occasions, he, Peter Orlovsky and a group of his friends were chanting OM outside the station. So we wandered up to see what was going on and joined in. I never shook his hand though. (I met Buddy Hackett the same way, without the OM). He was driving out of a garage after leaving the TV station and almost ran me over. He was apologetic and pretty funny about it though.

Around the same period some friends and I were hanging around in the East Village and we came upon the Swami's original storefront on Second Avenue. He happened to be there at the time and showed us the deities and told us who Krishna was.

[Fire Walk With Me]

97. Extremely cool.

Ginsburg was a real human being, not a humanoid, as he describes most of us in his writings.

[greatauntoftriplets]

6. Vice President Hubert Humphrey....

On a high school trip to DC. He was holding a leg of lamb in the other hand at the time. Photo op on the Capitol steps with representatives of the New Zealand lamb industry.

[Pale Blue Dot]

7. Carol Channing, Joe Namath, Ned Lamont. nt

[JTG of the PRB]

9. Howard Dean.

Four years ago, outside the University Memorial Center at the University of Colorado. I skipped two classes to hear him speak, because, at the time, he was the guy i wanted to vote for in 2004. Got to shake his hand, speak with him briefly, and I got his autograph.

Admittedly, the autograph he gave me was little more than a squiggle that doesn't appear to contain an "H" OR a "D", but it was still exciting.

[AlCzervik]

10. Adrian Barbeau, Billy Idol, Paulie Shore, John Kerry, some guy from knots landing

he played "Harold" Olivia's boyfriend, Joan Rivers and Jack Black and the local news anchor, don't know if that counts or not but our kids are in the same class.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

13. My dear chimpsrsmarter!

I went to high school with Adrienne Barbeau!

Even then, she knew she wanted to be in show business!

:bounce: :bounce:

[AlCzervik]

14. cool! She was really nice, i got her autograph when she was out on a press tour

for "the Fog".

[blitzen]

15. Willie Nelson, Bill Walton, Jacques Derrida

[Kutjara]

73. OK, you win.

Jacques Derrida? I'm seriously jealous. How did you meet him?

[supernova]

16. Here you go

Emmett Kelly
Bill Clinton
Hillary Clinton
Harry Belafante
Julian Bond
Dizzy Gillespie
Petra Kelly
Mikhail Gorbachev
Barbara Mikulski
Paul Sarbanes
Steny Hoyer
Kay Gibbons
Alan Gurganis

[Scooter24]

17. Actors, Singers, and even a Princess...

Shawn Pyfrom- plays Andrew on Desperate Housewives- met at the Cracked Xmas 9 benefit for the Trevor Project
Princess Stephanie of Monaco- at a benefit in Monte Carlo
Justin Timberlake- backstage at his recent concert
Gisele Bundchen- met at a post-fashion show party in Paris

plus many more...

[Mad_Dem_X]

29. You met Justin?

I'm soooo jealous!!!

[Scooter24]

31. haha...I talked to him for maybe 2-3 minutes.

Nice guy, but of course, very busy.

My friend's father is a senior executive at the American Airlines Center where the concert was at and he scored us a pair of backstage passes. We spent a lot of time talking to the dancers, but it was a fun experience. :)

[Turbineguy]

18. Maxim Vengarov

[GenDem]

19. Hillary and the Big Dog

I was her county coordinator for the 2006 election.

[liberaldemocrat7]

61. Did you get to ask Bill why he threw millions of welfare beneficiaries under the bus

by signing the punishment in 1996?

[GenDem]

107. No, I just said glad to meet you, Mr President - n/t

[Wetzelbill]

21. Sherman Alexie, John Kerry, Gary Payton, Dan Gable, Lute Olsen, Rep. Raul Grijalva...

Vin Baker, James Welch, Michael Cooper (former LA Laker), Pulitzer winner N. Scott Momaday, Academy Award Winner Chris McQuarrie, actress Guinevere Turner, former boxer Marvin Camel, lots of basketball players: Kenny Smith, Reggie Theus, Otis Thorpe, Ed Pinckney to name a few, I had a class with Salim Stoudamire, I almost ran into Channing Frye after ordering teriyaki (I'm 5'1, he's at least 6'10), former bull riding world champ and Deadwood actor, Gary Leffew (he used to call me "The Tick" as in "The Tick Sticks" because I made a pretty awesome ride that he watched)

I met former Jimmy Carter Undersecretary of State and later journalist, Hodding Carter when I was little. I was running around in a Minneapolis airport and he picked me up and brought me to my parents.

Granted, some of those are not necessarily all that famouse though.

[carpetbagger]

22. Harry Chapin cooked a hamburger for me once.

His kid was one of my classmates once upon a time.

[lizziegrace]

41. I miss him

:(

What was he like?

[carpetbagger]

110. He was just one of the dads.

A few years younger than mine, and of course, his work schedule meant that at least once he was the only father that showed up for daytime stuff.

I was somewhat young, but my impression is that what I know of him now matches what I thought about him then.

[pokerfan]

23. Buzz Aldrin, moonwalker

Story Musgrave



Bill Nye, the Science Guy



Buckminster Fuller

[Bennyboy]

24. I have seen Joe Montana's penis.....

When the 49ers trained In Rocklin CA they used to hang out in the Black Angus by my house. I was in the restrooom at the urinal and looked over to the urinal next to me and it was Joe! Now I am not in the habit of checking out other dudes but I just had to look. And cuz you all are dying to know, no bigger than usual.

later we all partied together and I met most of the team that was there.

A few years before that he came into my bar when I was bartending. With two beauritful girls, went to the end of the bar and turned his back on everyone. I got his deal and did not tell anyone. he thanked me for the service and not blowing his cover. Then my boss spied him and made a total ass of himself and Joe left.

I met Dusty Baker (again) at a bar in Nevada City a few months ago too. he is from my HS and I know his brother pretty well.

[Metta]

25. Jay McShann, Red Rodney, Joe Harris. 3x one degree from Charlie Parker. Plus

Maddy Prior and Martin Carthy from Steeleye Span, Junior Wells, Rod MacDonald and Pierce Pettis - two of the finest songwriters ever, Bobby Boswell who played bass for Louis Jordan, John Hammond, bluegrass mandolin legend Frank Wakefield (an anti-semite at the time), Gillian Welch and David Rawlings; I turned them on to Dock Boggs' Oh, Death and put early country music in prospective for them in the back of a now defunct Pittsburgh club. Also, I used to buddy with Dave Bromberg, from time to time, as he was coming up. Many more than I remember really. Proud moments all.

[ruiner4u]

26. spoke to Julie Andrews on the phone...

I was a res agent for american at the time...


Very nice lady...

[ronnykmarshall]

100. That reminds me ...

I spoke to Lauren Bacall on a radio talk show.

[Mad_Dem_X]

27. Johnny Depp

Back in his "21 Jump Street," early-heartthrob days. He was appearing at a car show in Philadelphia. Drop-dead GORGEOUS.

Also, at the same car show, I met John J. York, who was appearing in a show called "Werewolf" at the time. He then went on to play in "General Hospital." I actually got to have a conversation with him; he was a real sweetie.

[Mad_Dem_X]

28. Whoops - how could I forget Kevin Spacey????

I was front row for his show in Atlantic City, when he was doing his Bobby Darin tour. I got to shake his hand at the end of the show. Nice, smooth, warm hands. Sigh...!

[RevolutionaryActs]

33. Kevin Spacey AND Johnny Depp?

I hate you. :P

[Mad_Dem_X]

114. LOL! I didn't get to talk to Kevin, unfortunately

Sis and I waited after the show in hopes of seeing him, but we never did. Still, I got to touch him...

[Thirtieschild]

30. Knew Bill Moyers in college, talked to Elvis on the phone.

My roommate was engaged to Bill's roommate (both were from Marshall TX), also knew him in j-school.

My husband was supposed to interview Elvis when he went into the army, missed connections, talked to Elvis when he called for husband. Very nice, very polite.

[Richard Steele]

32. None that I'm aware of. nm

[charlie and algernon]

34. a bunch

Kerry
Obama
Gov. Rendell
Sen. Bob Casey
Eisenhower's grandson
Mario and Michael Andretti
talked with most of the band Trans-Siberian Orchestra

[undeterred]

35. Bill Clinton, Russ Feingold, a near miss with John Kerry

That'll do me for life.

[Bjornsdotter]

36. Christopher Dean

....Kurt Browning, Scotty Hamilton, Susie Wynne, Jennie Meno & Todd Sands, Kristi Yamaguchi, Emily Hughes, Elvis Stojko, Ben Agosto, Elena Berezhnaya & Anton Sikharulidze, Alexander Fadeyev.


King of Sweden....King Carl Gustav, Bjorn Skifs, Bobby Riggs (surprisingly quite the gentleman, he carried my luggage for me and waited until my parents met me at the airport), Mayor Richard J Daley, all members of Cheap Trick.

And for all of the DUer's who grew up in Chicago during the 70's....Bozo, Oliver O. Oliver and Bill Jackson (BJ)

Cheers

[begin_within]

40. Wow how'd you meet all those skaters?

Kurt Browning is my favorite skater of all time.

[Bjornsdotter]

49. He's very nice

...one of the nicest, I've met. We attended the 2002 Winter Olympics and Kurt Browning was on his was to the bathroom, my daughter stopped him and he told us to just wait he would be right out. He came out, walked straight to my 12 year old daughter and talked with her for at least 15 minutes.

My kids were skaters and took lessons from Susie Wynne and Sasha Fadeyev. I have video's of Ben Agosto when he was just going into high school. Ben is another very nice person, but then again we've known him back when he was still trying to raise money to help finance his skating.

I think one of the best experiences was at the Women's Finals at Salt Lake....we have a friend who is a member of the IOC and he got us tickets for all of the events. We sat right behind Sarah Hughes's family when she won the gold. Her parents weren't there, they were outside the arena and couldn't bear to watch...we were behind the rest of her family. It was an amazing experience.

The skating world is a very small world, everyone knows everyone.

Cheers

[begin_within]

50. That's pretty amazing.

All of those people are heroes to me, from the Protopopovs all the way to Evan, what's his name? Lysacek I think. They're all like distant deities to me. Well most of them anyway! There's a few I wouldn't want to meet.

[Bjornsdotter]

53. Lol

...my son skated against Evan many years ago. My son beat him, I still tease my son about that. Evan is an amazing skater.

Cheers

[CBHagman]

98. It's always good to hear stories like yours.

Kurt Browning has always been amazing in performance, and it's really heartening to hear he's a nice guy off the ice.

[treestar]

37. shook hands with Al Gore

in 1992 during the campaign!

[MagsDem]

44. Now he is a political rock star.....

I would dearly love to meet! Oh shoot, I forgot to mention I also met Bill Frist when I worked at a hospital in TN. Of course he wasn't famous then, but he WAS a royal jackass. Sorry I didn't get to meet Al when I lived there. He was a senator then, and I admired him greatly even way back then.

[skygazer]

38. Howard Dean, Bernie Sanders, Pat Leahy

(live in Vermont long enough, you meet all the politicians)

I chatted with Ron Howard at the Newfane Flea Market one day. :hi:

[yellowdogintexas]

39. Earl Scruggs, Speaker of the House Jim Wright, Al Gore (twice)

Chet Atkins, Larry Hagman(on a call in radio show)

For those who love caves, Roger Brucker is famous and he is a dear friend of long standing,

And in the infamous category, a minister in Dallas who stood trial for attempted murder of his wife and was not convicted: Walker Railey..we were at church camp together several times.

[yellowdogintexas]

104. I forgot: I shook hands w Ann Richards twice! way cool

and my grandfather knew Will Rogers and Wiley Post

[billyoc]

42. John Sweeney, Eric Massa, Cardinal Egan, Mark Green.

[MagsDem]

43. Hmmm, lots

Howard Dean, John Edwards, Elizabeth Edwards, Bill and Hil,(all various political meetings, all very charming folks -- well, except Dean. He's more smart than charming) Terry McAulife (dinner -- he wanted bucks. Very slick dude.), Rep Jay Inslee, Rep Adam Smith, Rep Brian Baird (lobbied them among others -- just the ones I am willing to admit), Bob Crane from Hogan's Heros (when I worked as a cashier in a Kmart kind of place in high school) John Lithgow (sat next to him on a plane), Daryl Hall and John Oates (delivered them a pizza when I was in college), Brian Williams (some political function), Ralph Nader (resisted the urge to tell him to KMA), Bono (at a basketball game), Lauren Jackson and Sue Bird (WNBA players), Christine Gregoire, and Ted Kulongoski (Govs, WA and OR, respectively), Amy Grant (again on a plane). Probably some others in relation to my political work, but those are the ones that came to mind.

Edit: to add I met John Edwards twice about a year apart and he remembered my name. I found it very charming! And Elizabeth is about the most charming person I have ever met on the political stage -- even more so than the big dog. Too bad she isn't running. She is John's best asset!

[bluethruandthru]

45. Dave Matthews, Jon Bon Jovi

Barry White
KT Tunstall
Vanessa Carlton
Darin McGavin
Lonnie Anderson
Linda Carter
Carrol O'Conner
James Carville
Cokie Roberts
Chris Matthews
Sinbad
Robert Redford
Journey band members
Nelly Furtado
Bowling for Soup band membes
Train band members
Live band members
Mary J. Blige
The Fray band members
Ronnie Milsap
Basia
lots more...

[stuntcat]

46. Milla Jovovich

I'd totally brag forever if I met William Shatner!
I've met some other people, Tori Amos and Emmylou Harris but Milla Jovovich counts more because we hung out for a while, we were waiting in line together outside a nightclub that hadn't opened the door yet.

[Fire Walk With Me]

47. .

Cevin Key and Nivek Oghr of Skinny Puppy; David Hasslehoff; Wes Craven; One of the female stars of "Without a Trace"; Sharon Gless of Cagney and Lacey; Greg Evigan, Paul Reiser; A.J. Langer; Ray Parker Jr.; Florian Schneider; Richard Barbieri; many world-class musicians with amazing histories; Diane Salinger, Moebius and Rodelius of Cluster, the great George Clinton, etc.

I've been near but not introduced to DeNiro, Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty, George Burns, John Goodman, Carole Burnette, Gary Coleman, Sara Gilbert, Wendy Robie (Twin Peaks, People Under the Stairs), Graeme Revell, James Doohan, Keith Emerson, Kevin Smith, Morgan Fairchild, Rob Lowe, did stage audio mixing for one Tammy Wynette show, etc.

And more. I'm beat; I can't remember everyone. If you live in LA and work in or around the film and music business, you -will- run into people. It's just a matter of time.

Most importantly, I've had the good karma to meet several spiritual masters. My respect and gratitude to them all.

[Fire Walk With Me]

62. Duh... Bob Moog and Don Buchla. Morton Subotnick.

[Rhythm]

80. Seriously jealous about Wes Craven...

He's probably my favorite horror-genre director...

[UrbScotty]

51. Mostlyu political people.

Broadcaster Dick Enberg, NASCAR's Johnny Benson, Gen. Wesley Clark (Ret.), Sen. Carl Levin, Sen. Debbie Stabenow, Gov. Jennifer Granholm, and Michigan Dem Chair/DNC Vice Chair Mark Brewer.

[begin_within]

52. Not shaken hands but I met Allen Ginsberg and Ken Kesey

Attended one of Allen Ginsberg's poetry readings - songfests in the 1980s at San Diego State University. Bought "Howl" and got him to autograph it. But didn't really speak with him.

Attended a "lecture" by Ken Kesey in Portland in 1982 where he read a short story called "The Day Superman Died" and then took questions from the audience. It lasted over 2 hours. I went to it even though I had a temp. of 103 that day. Sat in the front row so I feel like I met him even though he didn't speak to me. Kicked myself later for not bringing a copy of Cuckoo's Nest for him to sign. He also brought this huge ball of hemp rope, about 2 feet in diameter, as a prop (in that year Oregon had a ballot measure to legalize marijuana but it failed.)

Fortunately, I was able contact him once before he died. A friend of mine lived next door to him in Springfield, Oregon. (His land is adjacent to Kesey's land). He knew Kesey personally and told me to come up for one of Kesey's annual bonfires in July. I mailed a letter to Kesey and he handed it to him personally, then told me much later that Kesey had enjoyed it. It was a letter praising his work. I was planning to go to the next bonfire the following July, but Kesey passed away suddenly in October, so I never got to meet him again.

[hyphenate]

55. Being a convention organizer and working

for a studio put me in touch with a lot of people, but the list of "fun" ones is slightly different:

Henry Winkler, Scott Bakula, Rod Taylor (who I was in love with since I was 15!), Robert Conrad, Red West (I only knew him from Black Sheep Squadron--it wasn't until MUCH later that I found out he was a friend of Elvis Presley), Jimmy Doohan (we took him to dinner once and I got to sit to his immediate left), George Takei (he has an interesting laugh--we took him to dinner once as well, and we couldn't understand why there was so much wait staff at our table!), Robert Englund (when he worked on "V" and not because of Nightmare on Elm Street--we might have been the only clueless ones who liked him from that!), Mark Hamill, Gil Gerard.......

The list is long. I also used to go to a charity auction in Toronto where there were celebs participating, and we had a lot of fun with that, and the Genesis Awards in L.A. which were awards to the entertainment industry for spreading information on animal rights. At the latter, I did meet Scott Hamilton--very nice guy.

I had always been made fun of in high school because I was so focused on entertainment--I think it became a mission in my life to show the others I went to school with that not only had I achieved my goals, but surpassed them in many ways.

[RushIsRot]

56. Bobby Kennedy

[ronnykmarshall]

101. WOW!

What a thrill!

I just missed seeing Teddy in P-Town in 2000.

[masshole]

57. Abbie Hoffman

At a party when I was about 10 years old, he was friends with my next door neighbor's dad. I remember we tried sneaking a few beers, and him laughing and mock-scolding us when we got caught.

George Herbert Walker Bush, my brother and I were the ONLY people to see him when his camapign bus stopped in town (1980)

John Kerry, three or four times at various campaign events

Muhammad Ali and Chet Atkins (they weren't together) both on the same flight to Miami in 1970.

[bridgit]

58. hm, let's see: Dr. Dre, Jim Carrey, Bill Graham, Edward James Olmos...

Eric Clapton, most all the Wayans Brothers (specially Keenan & Damon, they were super nice & way funny) & the Wayans Sistah, ah man there's a lot but i was in the music/entertainment industry so it's really no big deal...movie stars, yada-yada folks, Billy Idol, etc

[begin_within]

59. Oh... I have met Quentin Crisp, David Hockney, and saw Sonny Bono twice

Quentin Crisp was doing a book signing at a very small bookstore in San Diego called the Book Mark which is a video store these days. There was hardly anyone there so I got to chat with him for a couple of minutes. He was very poised and articulate and he had purple hair! His hair was white but he had it dyed a shade of lavender.

I was at a party in 1982 in Portland and someone introduced me to David Hockney, and I had no idea who he was but I faked it. Someone explained to me on the side that he was a famous artist.

Saw a taping of The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour in the early 1970s (the one where Jack Palance was a guest) and between scenes some of the cast members would mingle with the audience when they had a spare minute or two. Sonny came up once and shook hands with my Dad but not with me. Teri Garr was another cast member who was friendly with the audience, but the one who spent the most time mingling was Ted Zeigler who seemed to have a ball talking and joking with audience members.

About 20 years later I was working at a newspaper in San Diego, and Sonny Bono was running for the California state assembly and breezed through the office one day, waving and shaking hands, and looked at me for about one second but did not shake hands with me.

[LostInAnomie]

60. I took a leak next to Bruce Pearl (coach of the Univ. of Tenn.'s mens basketball team)

It was awkward.

[jobycom]

63. Ann Richards, Ralph Yarborough, Emmit Smith, James K Galbraith, Too Tall Jones

Edie Brickel, Nolan Ryan, Pete Rose, Nate Newton, Jim Hightower (he was rude), Helen Shaver

Most of those were very brief encounters, except Yarborough, whom I worked for.

[SeattleGirl]

64. Bill Cosby, Ginger Rogers, Susan St. James,

Jane Curtain, President Ford.

[WCGreen]

65. Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Dennis Kucinich, Patrick Kennedy, Carl Stokes...

Chris Dodd, Kenny Chesney, Kathy Matea and Michael McDonald...

I can only prove five...

[swag]

66. Senator Paul Simon, Congressman Pete Stark, Mr. T,

former Virginia Governor Doug Wilder, Joe Elliot of Def Leppard (nice guy), most members of Molly Hatchett (dumbfucks), assorted punk and indie music heroes.

[Kat45]

67. Wes Clark (a couple of times, once on TV), Elton John, Lemmy,

Tom Scholz, Bill Wyman (on the phone), David Coverdale (also on the phone)

[Starbucks Anarchist]

68. Ray Manzarek, Henry Winkler, Bobby Lee, and Dubya (!)

[IntravenousDemilo]

69. Well...

In the US I've met Stephen Sondheim (my mentor), Katharine Hepburn (by accident, but it was set up by Sondheim as a joke), Ron Howard, Renée Zellweger, Russell Crowe (all on the set of Cinderella Man), Red Buttons, and Alan Arkin, as well as NON-Oscar winners Pete Seeger, Buzz Aldrin, Spalding Gray, Paul Rudd, Paul Giamatti, James Spader, Rob Morrow, Blythe Danner, Chris Noth -- and on this side of the border, the Queen during one of her walkabouts, CTV anchor Lloyd Robertson at journalism school, Margaret Atwood, Larry Linville, Ted Lange, Judy Norton-Taylor, and William Christopher (all when I worked in radio), Prime Ministers John Diefenbaker and Joe Clark, and a number of provincial premiers. Oh, and Alex Trebek when I was on JEOPARDY! this year. I'll talk to just about anyone, I guess, and you know? they talk right back.

Whoops, I forgot The Chieftains and William S Burroughs. BTW, here's a joke Burroughs told. What's black and white and has a dirty last name? Sister Mary Catherine Fuck.

[terrya]

78. You've told me about all of the famous people you've met.

And what an impressive list.

I was trying to come up with any famous people I've talked to or met. I could only come up with telling Richard Kind and Jane Powell how well they did after the performance of "Bounce" at the Goodman Theater here.

Liked the Burroughs joke. :-)

SHMILY

[Rhythm]

82. That's how i have always felt...

>I'll talk to just about anyone, I guess, and you know? they talk right back.<

I was star-struck when my dad's photographer friend took me with him to some of the biggest pro-wrestling matches when i was 13 or so, but once i had been around so-called 'famous' people, that awe has gone by the wayside...

That sort of unflappability has gotten me into some of the best places...

[QMPMom]

70. Robert Kennedy, Joe Louis, Gale Gordon and the country group 'Alabama' - got a

kiss from Randy and a hug from all of the group members. Have spoken on the phone with Robin Williams, Isaac Mizrahi, Linda Kozlowski, Anna Romano (Ray Romano's wife) and Viktoria Cornelius (Don Cornelius' trophy wife).

[devilgrrl]

71. John Waters, Dick Dale, Garry Marshall, Ron Howard

:shrug:

[Pushed To The Left]

72. Diane Keaton, Carol Kane, and a lot of wrestlers

Diane Keaton and Carol Kane came to my high school when I was a student there (Keaton was an alumni), and several of us got a chance to meet them!

I got the autographs of Jim Neidhart and Lanny Poffo when I was a kid.

I was introduced to "Superstar" Billy Graham at an EWF show, and I got the autographs of the late Junkyard Dog and Virgil at another EWF show.

I called Loveline several times as a teenager and spoke to both Tina Yothers and Wil Wheaton.

[Kutjara]

74. Queen Elizabeth II

She came to my college to dust the Royal Charter or something and I was appointed to greet her at the door. Our conversation lasted about 4 milliseconds and consisted of me saying "Welcome, Your Majesty" and she saying "thank you."

Meanwhile, my girlfriend at the time, who was in the college chapter of the Socialist Workers Party, stood on the other side of the quad with a group of protesters, screaming "parasite!!!!!!" I assume she was shouting at the Queen.

[MonkeyFunk]

75. lessee...

Dee Snyder, Billy Idol, Mick Ronson, Herbie Hancock, Gregory Hines, Sinbad, Peri Gilpin, John Waters, David Sedaris, Jane Fonda, Eartha Kitt.... can't think of any others.

[Callalily]

76. Salman Rushdie

Wynton Marsalis
Campbell Scott
David Sedaris

That's all I can think of right now.

[NewWaveChick1981]

77. Hmmm...let's see....

Saw at a distance: Edward James Olmos in front of the Russian Tea Room in NYC; Dpnny Most, Anson Williams, and Erin Moran last year, all looking their ages; Mickey Rooney

Shook hands with: Nelson Rockefeller

Spoken with: Gary Hart (I campaigned for him), Erin Gray, Soupy Sales, June Lockhart, Harlan Ellison

Met and had a great conversation with: James Doohan

Had dinner with and then had a pic taken: George Takei

Sat on his lap and had a pic taken: Richard Hatch (the Battlestar Galactica one, not that other loser)

Went to his house and had dinner; husband has/had an ongoing friendship with: Curt Swan, the definitve Superman artist (RIP), George Perez (the definitive Wonder Woman artist-turned-fetish-video-producer:P)

I know there are others, but I just woke up a few minutes ago. I'll update here if I remember more.

[SoxFan]

95. You had me worried for a second

For a minute I was worried that you were going to say that you had your picture taken while sitting on Gary Hart's lap!

:wow:

[NewWaveChick1981]

105. ...

:rofl: If I had, I'm sure I would have remembered it...:P

[Rhythm]

79. Only one 'politicians', Kim Campbell (former Prime Minister of Canada), but...

Musicians:
All the members of:
Danzig/The Misfits/Samhain (yes... ALL of them, at one time or another)
White Zombie
Marilyn Manson
Korn
Type O Negative
Queensryche
Suicidal Tendencies
Morbid Angel (who used to be my neighbors in Charlotte, before they made a name for themselves in "death metal").

Ice T (met in LA at an outdoor cafe')
Henry Rollins (in the 'Black Flag' days)
Janie Lane (Warrant... intro done by our mutual tattooist)
Michael Stipe from REM (before "Murmur").

Artists/Writers/Actors:
James O'Barr (artist/writer of "The Crow")
Neil Gaiman creator of ("Sandman")
"The Crow" cast members (I attended the film premier in NYCity at the invitation of Mr. O'Barr):
Michael Wincott
Bai Ling
Angel David
Ernie Hudsonan
Tony Todd,

Tom Savini (spfx artist/actor, "Sex Machine" in 'From Dusk Til Dawn'),
Linea Quigley (the goddess of screem queens).

Pro athletes: Basketball:
Former Charlotte Hornets
Larry Johnson
Mugsy Bogues
Kurt Rambis

Former WNBA Charlotte Sting:
Rhonda Mapp
Andrea Stinson

Hockey:
Ron Francis
Trevor Kidd
Stu Grimson
Keith Primeau
Kevin Weekes
Mike Hartman (who let me try on his Stanley Cup ring from the '94 Rangers)
Eric Boulton (bought him a few beers in his minor-league days)

Baseball:
Baltimore Orioles(but met them all in their minor-league days in Charlotte NC)
Eddie Murray
Cal Ripkin Jr
Jim Palmer
Mike Boddicker

Miscellaneous:
every popular pro wrestler in the south in the '80's, such as:
Ric Flair
Ricky Steamboat
Greg Valentine
Blackjack Mulligan
Tony Atlas
Andre the Giant
Jimmy Snuka
Paul Orndorff
Paul Jones
Wahoo McDaniel
the Rock 'n' Roll Express, etc.....
(the "wrestling" list made possible by my dad's best friend, who was a freelance photographer, and would take me along as his "assistant" when i was 12-15 yrs old... Thanks again, Jim, wherever you are!)

[Rhythm]

83. Oh crap... i forgot Jesse James (before West Coast Choppers)

He was the security coordinator for Danzig from 1987-1992, so we got pretty well acquainted, since my best friend was good friends with Glenn ans Eerie, and we attended something like 35 shows together during that time.

In '92, we surprised the whole band and crew with homemade cookies before the show on the day after Christmas (in Atlanta0, and Jesse went around for the rest of the night wearing his "all access" pass on the the ribbons and jingle-bells from his tin.

Cutest thing E.V.E.R.,

In '93, he saved my life by pulling me out of the crowd and carrying me to paramedics at the stage wing, after i got kicked in the head by a crowd-surfing skinhead wearing steel-caps. I had to go to the hospital for the hairline skull fracture and nasty concussion.

I have been so thrilled that he's become so successful, because he really does deserve it.

[AwakeAtLast]

81. Al Unser, Sr.

I was at the Indianapolis airport standing in line to go to Vegas by way of St. Louis. He was standing right in front of me. I thought he was very nice. He talked to me for about ten minutes before we got on the plane.

[GCP]

84. Tricky Dicky Nixon himself

[trof]

85. Jimmy Carter, James Garner, Amanda Blake (Miss Kitty, Gunsmoke)

[tigereye]

86. Lou Reed, VIncent Price, Mick Jagger (well more of hi and nod, actually, but he

was 1 foot away from me in a small setting), Hillary, Meridel LeSuer the labor poetess, one or two guys from that famous hardcore band from DC (the name is escaping me- but the straight edge one), can't think of anything else at the moment.


I haven't really met that many famous people, and somehow that's ok.

[SoxFan]

88. Still haven't met Bono, but here goes

Steve Earle (alt.country god)
David Prowse (aka, Darth Vader)
Terry Farrell (Deep Space 9, Becker)
Richard Seymour (Patriots scary-good defensive lineman)
Tommy Heinsohn (NBA Hall of Famer and Celtics broadcaster)
Clint Stoerner (former Cowboys QB)
Cedric Cobbs (Broncos kick returner/RB)
Various members of Cherish The Ladies (Irish folk group)
Tommy Makem (RIP, Tommy)
John Kerry
John Edwards
Barack Obama
Hillary Clinton
Howard Dean (bumped into him at the pizza shop one night!)
Joe Lieberman
Bill Richardson
Joe Biden
Bruce Babbitt
Michael Dukakis
Dick Gephardt
Bill Clinton
Al Gore
Jesse Jackson
George McGovern
Ted Kennedy
Fritz Hollings
Jerry Brown
Doug Wilder
Tom Harkin
Bob Kerrey
Paul Tsongas
Bill Bradley
Rudy Giuliani
Steve Forbes
Evan Bayh
Mark Warner

[begin_within]

90. My Dad met Eleanor Roosevelt and Amelia Earhart once.

My grandparents, Elmer R. Weaver and Ethel B. Weaver, lived in Chevy Chase, Maryland and they were active members of the National Geographic Society. They went to all the monthly luncheons at the NGS headquarters in Washington DC. One time, my grandfather was sick, so my grandmother took my dad to the luncheon. He was about 13 or 14 at the time (this was the early 1930s, but I'm not sure exactly what year). The guest speaker at that luncheon was Amelia Earhart. Also, Eleanor Roosevelt was in attendance. When it was all over, my dad and his mother were walking through the hallways at NGS headquarters, and came upon Eleanor Roosevelt and Amelia Earhart in a hallway, having a conversation. My grandmother introduced my dad to them and the 4 of them had a polite conversation for a few minutes. When he told me about this, he couldn't remember what they talked about, but it was a memory he cherished for the rest of his life.
When he was around 17 or 18, he went on a scavenger hunt with his high school friends, and one of the things on the list was a piece of White House stationery. They drove right up to the front door of the White House and knocked on the door. A butler answered, and got them a piece of the stationery. A few minutes later they drove by the White House again and noticed that the gates had been shut. So they won, because they were the only team that got the stationery.

[volstork]

91. I danced with Dennis Quaid

in a bar in Memphis years ago. Have met Danny Thomas; touched Eric Stolz on the shoulder as I was leaving a restaurant in Manhattan; helped Emma Thompson fix her kid's stroller in Central Park (the wheel was coming off).

[HamdenRice]

92. Three heads of state: Thabo Mbeki, Nnamdi Azikiwe, and Sir Reginald Palmer + Bishop Tutu

Of course not when they were sitting. I met the current president of South Africa when he was a fairly obscure but high level bureaucrat of the banned ANC in Zambia. He was visiting New York, attending a conference, and my boss at the time snagged a half hour or so sit down and invited me to participate to ask about where he thought internal South African politics was headed. He predicted that F.W. de Klerk would succeed Botha. Almost everyone else thought that the next white president would be Roleof "Pik" Botha or Chris Heunis. Very prescient guy.

I met and really just shook hands with the first president of Nigeria, Nnamdi Azikiwe long after he had been deposed. He too was visiting the states and a professor introduced us.

Sir Reginald was the Governor General of Grenada. He actually was sitting head of state at that time, but really, the office is ceremonial (compared to the Prime Minister) and Grenada is the size of Manhattan and a certain number of tourists with family connections get invited to tea with the Governor General.

I spent an afternoon with my then boss and Bishop Tutu in the mid 80s. He took us to observe the Delmas treason trial, and managed to actually get us into the cells of the defendants because Bishop Tutu wanted to give them an Anglican service. I had a side chat in the cell with one of the accused activists, Patrick Lekota, who I also ran into a few more times in the 80s. He was a very friendly guy. Now he is the Defense Minister of South Africa.

[A HERETIC I AM]

93. Paul Newman, David Letterman, Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top), Ron Dennis (McClaren F1), dozens of racing

drivers.

I used to work in Indy Car Racing. I've met and had many conversations with dozens of them. Some of the more famous would be;

Johnny Rutherford (Johnny used to spend race days in the Tractor Trailer i used to operate)
Rick Mears
Emerson Fittipaldi
Dan Gurney
Bob Bondurant
Jim Hall
Tom Sneva
Bobby Allison
Tony Bettenhausen
AJ Foyt (I have a birthday card signed by AJ)
Bobby Unser
Al Unser SR.
Al Unser JR.
Scott Goodyear (Goodyear & AL Jr. were in the closest finish in Indy 500 history(1992). I have a poster signed by both drivers)
Paul Tracy
Danny Sullivan
Arie Luyendyk
Robbie Gordon
Mario Andretti
Michael Andretti
Jeff Andretti
John Andretti
Scott Brayton
Scott Pruett
Buddy Lazier
Teo Fabi
Bobby Rahal
Derrick Daly
Kenny Bernstein (NHRA Drag racer and team owner - Used to work for a company owned by Bernstein)

Others that are famous but not drivers;
Roger Penske (Used to work for a company partly owned by Roger)
Linda Vaughn (Miss Hurst Shifter for years and a perennial Racing Paddock figure)
Chris Economaki (Racing commentator and writer)
Bob Jenkins (TV Racing Commentator)
Jack Arute (TV Racing Commentator)
Larry McReynolds (Former NASCAR Crew Chief and Racing Commentator)
Benny Parsons
Norbert Haug (Head of Mercedes Benz Motorsports)
Lots more.

Hang around Motor Racing long enough and you meet all kinds of famous people.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

94. Richard Nixon, Garbage, Alan Alda, David Wilkins, Canadian PM

I encountered Richard Nixon several times - both through the Nixon Library and literally just out and about.
Shirley Manson of Garbage, she sat down next to me in a hotel lobby.
I sat next to Alan Alda on an airplane, it didn't dawn on me who he was until he was asked for an autograph. Really nice guy.
The current US ambassadors of Canada David Wilkins - fucking lunatic, claims God told him about his appointment before W did.
I have also met the current Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, The guy just seems like a loser totally uncomfortable in his position.

I sat next to a woman claiming to be a pornstar on a plane - I don't have a fucking clue who she was and she seemed quite offended by that - although alot of guys seemed to be rubber-necking so I guess she was telling the truth.

[Inchworm]

96. Gerald Ford, Rosa Parks, and a few infamous folks

I met a lot of people working in Miami that I don't remember... hic!

:hi:

[ronnykmarshall]

99. Al and Tipper

Hillary (she touched my hand), Mary Wilson, Barbra Boxer, Dianne Fienstien, Gray & Sharon Davis, Lois Nettleton, Stephanie Miller, Art Agnos (former Mayor of SF), Angela Alioto, Roberta Achtenberg and California Peggy.

[zanne]

102. Barack Obama!

About a month ago. Hollywood or sports celebrities do nothing for me. If I passed one on the street, I wouldn't stop to say Hi. But give me a political celebrity or a famous reporter and I just go ape.

[cwydro]

103. Billie Jean King,

Martina Navratilova, Arthur Ashe, Whitney Houston (who was a bitch and stated quite clearly that she hated white people in my hearing), Oliver North (ick). The last two were when I worked as security at DisneyWorld and had to be on a detail with these "celebrities".

Oh and I met the guy who played Klinger on MASH when I was giving blood once.

I don't know why, but I don't care a whole lot about famous people...I mean other than meeting a new person who may or may not be a nice person to meet. Billie Jean was genuine and very nice. Martina, not so much. Arthur Ashe was a great gentleman and nice man all around.

[kimmerspixelated]

106. Delbert McCLinton, Lou Ann BArton

Got an autograph from Delbert at a deli in Fort Worth in early 80's. Sat with Lou Ann Barton at a bar during lunchtime at a popular Austin restaurant in 86 I believe. Both very nice.

[ashling]

108. Howard Dean

'nuff said

[Labors of Hercules]

109. Leonard Bernstein, Billy Joel, Michael Jordan, Zubin Mehta...

James Taylor, Madonna, Bryn Terfel, Leonard Slatkin, Jesse Norman, John Edwards, the cast of "Dawson's Creek"...

A few others here and there.

[The Straight Story]

111. Paul Lynde

[Rambis]

112. I elbowed Bart Conner once

It was at the NCAA championships in Nebraska and he was in my way at the keg. I didn't realize who he was until he said excuse me. I am 6'0 tall and I was literally the tallest person at the party of gymnasts all three hundred or so of them.

I did meet Henny Youngman when I was eight and the Everly Brothers have been to our house many times.

[WI_DEM]

113. Jimmy Carter, Howard Dean and Sonny Bono

I shook hands twice with President Carter in 1979 when he was promoting energy indendence with a trip down the Mississippi River with a stop in Wabasha, Minnesota.

I volunterred for Howard Dean in 03-04 and met him three times and got to speak with him.

Years ago my family was visiting California and making the typical trip to Hollywood and we stopped at Sonny Bono's restaurant and it was after lunch and closed for dinner but when Sonny saw us all standing there he came up and personally escorted us to a table and allowed us to order lunch. He was a class act.

[NewJeffCT]

115. Bucky Dent, a bunch of NBA stars, a top stem-cell research scientist

And, Bucky Dent was post his big home run against the Red Sawx in '78.

Through most of the 90s, I did some sportswriting on the side and covered a lot of the pure & innocent world of college basketball recruiting, so I ended up meeting a lot of future NBA players before a lot of people had heard of them.

And, I recently found out that one of the country's top stem cell research scientists lives 5 houses down the street from me. (I met him briefly and he seems really nice, and his lawn is beautifully landscaped, too) He's not a true "celebrity" in the sense that he's on Entertainment Tonight or Sportscenter, but we should do more celebrating of intellectual celebrity in this country.

[bleedingheart]

116. Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Howard Dean, Ed Rendell ( had coffee with him)

Joe Lieberman (at the time he was running with Gore...today I wouldn't go near him)...
I have met two Kennedys...Patrick and his cousin Maxwell...

I go to a lot of political functions...so I meet mostly politicians...

I do have my picture with Clinton, Dean and Rendell...

[Burma Jones]

117. Count Basie, Gerry Mulligan, Maynard Ferguson, Bill Clinton, Ted Kennedy, Edward Albee

Tim Robbins, Susan Sarandon, Tom Brokaw, Martha Stewart, Dick Butkis, Sonny Jurgensen, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Jerry Garcia, David Bromberg, KoKo Taylor, Muddy Waters, All Four Ramones, Kelly McGillis, Stacy Keach,

[raccoon]

118. Teddy Kennedy, Strom Thurmond, Ernest Hollings. nt

[LynneSin]

119. Al Gore, John Kerry, John Edwards, Joe Biden, Tom Carper and a host of other democrats

and oh, I hugged Billy Idol!

And I didn't shake Robert Plants hand but I did hold it during the 2nd chorus of "In the Mood" back in 1988

[TommyO]

120. Toby Keith, before he became a boot-kickin' asshat.

[In_The_Wind]

121. Donald Trump, Michael Sindona, William Pitt, Andy Stephenson

[soleft]

122. Tyne Daly

[MissMillie]

123. Jesse Jackson

and Shawn Colvin

[Dragonbreathp9d]

124. My dad and my aunt had Bill Clinton over for dinner

when he was running for governor. My dad picked him up at the airport and brought him back to my aunt's for dinner. They we're both remembered by Clinton when he became president, as both we're invited to a white house dinner, and my aunt recieved many, many invitations. Unfortuneatly my dad was working and my aunt was quite ill and ended up passing away during Clinton's presidency.

[blueknight]

126. my aunt was

skeeter davis, so i met tons of country stars. along with:

bill and hillary
pete rose and johnny bench
morgan fairchild
alex rodriguez
phyllis diller
george clooney (hung out with him quite a bit, many years ago)

i will post more in a bit!

[DarkTirade]

125. My high school chorus sang at Disney's Candlelight Processional every year

so I got to meet a few famous people who were doing the narrating. The only ones I can remember offhand were David Ogden Stiers, some actress from a soap opera whose name I can't recall, and LeVar Burton. :)
My brother got to meet James Earl Jones a few years earlier when he was there.